Art Blog

Barclays L`Atelier goes digital in 2016

Barclays has announced a number of exciting changes for the Barclays L'Atelier competition in 2016. 2015 saw the inclusion of emerging artists from Botswana, Zambia, Ghana and Kenya. The competition has now been further extended to include Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mauritius and Seychelles, a total of 11 African countries. The entry process has also now been moved online in order to streamline the process.

The competition is open to all professional and self-taught artists aged between 21 - 35 residing in any of the 11 African countries. Artists are now able to register, enter, and upload their artist's statements and images of their submissions online at www.lateliercompetition.com. Entry forms for South African artists can be found on the website from 1 January - 4 March 2016. Once registered, artists will allocated a reference number.

Barclays L'Atelier, hosted in conjunction with the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA), offers young and emerging artists the platform to launch their art careers on the now larger African arena. The L'Atelier is the longest running art competitions of its kind in Africa and has seen the likes of Diane Victor, Paul Edmunds, Marco Cianfanelli, Conrad Botes and others winning it at the start of their careers.

Work by Gideon Appah, from Accra, Ghana, who won a Merit Award in 2015

The main prize includes a R225 000 in cash from Barclays, to be used during a three to six month stay at the Cite Internationale des Arts studio apartment in Paris as well as a return air ticket. The winner will also host a solo exhibition at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg. The Alliance Francaise, the French Institute and the French Embassy sponsor the Gerard Sekoto Award for the most promising South African artist with an income of less than R60 000 per annum. This prize includes a return ticket to Paris, three months' stay at the Cite Internationale des Arts, nationwide touring exhibition and training in French.

Merit awards include a two-month residency on the Isle of Sylt in Germany and a one-month residency in New York, awarded to two artists. The Top 10 finalists will also receive the opportunity to attend a two-day art professionalism course in Johannesburg that will assist them in managing their careers and participation in the Barclays L'Atelier mentorship programme seeing artists receiving personal mentoring from established African contemporaries for a year.

The L'Atelier competition offers artists the opportunity to broaden their careers to a larger African and international audience. Artists can visit www.lateliercompetition.com for more information.

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